The South Kitsap School District is scheduled to hold a public hearing Aug. 7 on an in-the-works 2024-25 budget that will reportedly remain conservative in its enrollment projections while potentially facing a reduction in its general fund.
The district has seen a much quieter spring and summer for budget planning this year after the 2022-23 school year ended in the chaos of potential budget cuts and employment reductions. Assistant superintendent Monica Hunsaker took the podium before the district’s Board of Directors July 26 to present a budget that includes just under $190.7 million of planned expenditures. District revenues are projected in the budget to reach $189.1 million – a large majority coming from state general and special funding – and with a projected general fund balance of $14 million at the end of the current budget year, she said the general fund could dip to $12.17 million.
Significant jumps in expenditures for the upcoming year are projected in basic education with an expenditure of $87.87 million and special education with a projected $30.38 million.
Hunsaker said the reduction in general fund should not create any level of alarm this school year, citing earmarked carryover funds and balance numbers in 2019 that she deemed were much higher than necessary. However, she noted a different tune would be sung if numbers for 2025-26 would also indicate another decrease. “You don’t want to have a huge fund balance. You want to spend the money on the students that year, but you need sufficient fund balance for cash flow.”
The biggest increases to the budget are salaries and benefits, Hunsaker noting that it is people which make up a large majority of the budget. A 3.7% increase in state-funded cost of living as well as increases in health benefits are noted among the major changes, which also include increased funding for special education and the last year of increased staffing allocations for physical, social and emotional support staff.
Hurting the district’s numbers is the allotted level of levy collections. The rate approved by voters for the district’s active enrichment levy were $33.1 million in 2024 and $36 million in 2025, but as the district only is able to collect based on a per pupil enrollment rate, SK says it will only collect $28.26 million for 2024 and approximately $29.07 million for 2025.
Enrollment FTE prior to COVID was 9,645 and was reported for 2023-24 at 9,159, a decline of 5.03%, but increasing brick and mortar attendance since the 2020-21 academic year combined with new housing and birth rates having officials anticipating enrollment will at least remain level or increase.
“2024-25 is actually a conservative projection, an increase of about 69 FTE,” Hunsaker said. “I believe it will come in higher, so we’ll see in September.”
The budget is expected to be approved by the board in August.
